ll subjects that in our times we heard
mentioned with horror, as though they were heresies. The greatest
free-thinker of my day declared them inferior to the classifications of
Aristotle and the laws of the syllogism. Man has at last comprehended
that he is man; he has given up analyzing his God and searching into
the imperceptible, into what he has not seen; he has given up framing
laws for the phantasms of his brain; he comprehends that his heritage
is the vast world, dominion over which is within his reach; weary of
his useless and presumptuous toil, he lowers his head and examines what
surrounds him. See how poets are now springing up among us! The Muses
of Nature are gradually opening up their treasures to us and begin
to smile in encouragement on our efforts; the experimental sciences
have already borne their first-fruits; time only is lacking for their
development. The lawyers of today are being trained in the new forms of
the philosophy of law, some of them begin to shine in the midst of the
shadows which surround our courts of justice, indicating a change in
the course of affairs. Hear how the youth talk, visit the centers of
learning! Other names resound within the walls of the schools, there
where we heard only those of St. Thomas, Suarez, Amat, Sanchez, [139]
and others who were the idols of our times. In vain do the friars cry
out from the pulpits against our demoralization, as the fish-venders
cry out against the cupidity of their customers, disregarding the
fact that their wares are stale and unserviceable! In vain do the
conventos extend their ramifications to check the new current. The
gods are going! The roots of the tree may weaken the plants that
support themselves under it, but they cannot take away life from
those other beings, which, like birds, are soaring toward the sky."

The Sage spoke with animation, his eyes gleamed.

"Still, the new seed is small," objected Don Filipo incredulously. "If
all enter upon the progress we purchase so dearly, it may be stifled."

"Stifled! Who will stifle it? Man, that weak dwarf, stifle progress,
the powerful child of time and action? When has he been able to do
so? Bigotry, the gibbet, the stake, by endeavoring to stifle it,
have hurried it along. _E pur si muove_, [140] said Galileo, when
the Dominicans forced him to declare that the earth does not move,
and the same statement might be applied to human progress. Some wills
are broken down, some individuals s